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Wednesday, December 12, 2012

#123 - Dave Smith

Who is the man: When this card hit packs, Dave Smith was in his first season as the Astros' indisputable closer. He would remain the closer for Houston for six years.

My observation on the front: I'm going to get myself in trouble on this one. Smith was really known for his changeup, one of the best in the business. But he regularly threw a sinker, curveball and fastball, as well as a forkball. So what's he throwing in the picture there? Curveball? Sinker? My pitching skills disappeared at age 12.

More opinion from me: The Astros have to be one of the few teams to have featured their stadium in their logo.

Something you might know: Smith is second on Houston's all-time saves list with 199, behind only Billy Wagner.

Something you might not know: One of Smith's teammates on his San Diego State University baseball team was CBS chief investigative correspondent Armen Keteyian.

My observation on the back: A little foreshadowing by Topps in the trivia quiz The only teams Smith played for were the Astros and the Cubs. He signed as a free agent with Chicago before the 1991 season.

I would posit that Smith just threw a change up. With his hand turned thumb inward I'm pretty sure it's not a fastball, slider or curve. Some pitchers turn their hand inward as they release the change up to give it some screwball action especially if i was a cicrle change.

-- The Hardball Times-- HighHeatStats.com-- Honolulu Star-Bulletin-- "If These Walls Could Talk, Los Angeles Dodgers" - Houston Mitchell--IMDb.com-- "Is This a Great Game or What?" - Tim Kurkijan-- the Ivy League